OF SIAM. 



267 



The governors of Blooung Ek, or provinces of the first rank, are 

 termed Chau PJiraya — of these there are at least eleven, exclusive of that 

 in which the capital is included, and as follow : 



1st. — Mooung PJtra samoottjia P,lira Kacm, Q) which embraces dis- 

 tricts in the vicinity of the embouchure of the Menam. 



2d. — Mooung PJiitchahooree. (j) 



3d. Ratphree. 



4th. Chantjiaboon, (^) a flourishing province on the east coast 



of the Gulf of .Siam, abounding in pepper. 



5th. — Mooung Lo-ang Prabang — ranging along the northern frontier. 



6th. Noppjiahooree (*) — (the nine gems.) 



7th. PJieecheet. Q 



8th. Sokkatjiai, {^) which once formed the capital as it is said. 



9th. KJwraat, or KJioraatchasema (J) — literally " the bearer 



the lion's skin comes," a fanciful appellation alluding to the imagined good 

 fortune to be derived from the possession of a Ratchasees skin. 

 10th. — Ditto Camp,heng PJiet. 



11th. — Ditto Nak/idn, See TJiammasookharaat or Ligor. 



The proximity of this last province to Prince of Wales Island, has 

 brought its Governor or CJiau PJiraya sufficiently into notice. Nahhun 

 is the proper name of Ligor, and See (or Sri) T,hammasookharaat is a title 

 he derives from the independent prince who governed the country at a 

 remote date, and who was subdued by TJiad Oothong, a King of Siam. 

 In a letter to the Envoy* from the Penang Government in 1824, he 

 styles himself P,hra nahod Chau tjian Chau PJiraya See TJiammasook- 

 karatcha — chatdee cliooa Dechochai md nai sooreeya tjieet — hddee pjiaiya 

 p,heeree hara kromma pjiaho Chau Phraya Nakhan see Thammarat an maha- 



Q) P. Samuddapdkdra. (^) P. Wajjrapurt. (") P. Chandapunnd. (*) P, Nawapurl. 

 (^) P, Wijita. (^) P. Sdkaudaya. C) P. Gordjasemd. (^) P. Nac/ara siridhammdsoka rdjja 



* The Writer of this Memoir. 



